Battle to keep 10,000 prisoners behind bars rages on for Jerry Brown

Wednesday

Jul 3, 2013 at 3:16 PMJul 3, 2013 at 7:28 PM

As Gov. Jerry Brown continues his struggle to keep an additional 10,000 prisoners from being released from the California prison system under a court order from a federal three-judge panel, one organization is offering support in opposing the decision.

By Jack BarnwellSTAFF WRITERjbarnwell@ridgecrestca.com

As Gov. Jerry Brown continues his struggle to keep an additional 10,000 prisoners from being released from the California prison system under a court order from a federal three-judge panel, one organization is offering support in opposing the decision.Monday, the League of California Cities issued a news release in support of Brown's request to stay the release of the 10,000 inmates, citing that it would give the California administration time to appeal the panel’s decision to the U.S. Supreme Court. “The League joins the Governor, the California Police Chiefs Association, the California State Association of Counties and other groups in opposing the recent order by the judicial panel charged with oversight of California’s prison system,” the LCC press release states. “The League maintains that the order represents a clear and present danger to public safety at a time when California’s local police departments, as well as county jails and probation offices, are still struggling to effectively manage the 2011 criminal justice realignment policy.”A three-judge panel ordered Brown to release an additional 10,000 prisoners on June 20 after criticizing California for failing to effectively reduce its prison population.The release of the prisoners is mandated under Assembly Bill 109, the state prison realignment act, a law that is the direct result of the federal court's order to reduce California's prison population to a manageable amount.Since the bill kicked into effect in 2011, more than 40,000 prisoners designated as “non-non-nons” (non-violent, non-serious, non-sex offenders) have been released from the state's prisons and into county jail systems.The resulting strain on the local facilities resulted in counties like Kern County implementing the early release of the triple-non felons into different types of probation. The LCC pled with the panel of federal judges to stay its order, citing safety issues, but past pleas have fallen on deaf ears. The court went so far as to warn that Brown was close to being held in contempt.“The League believes it would be unwise and dangerous to test the capacity of California’s local law enforcement network further to cope with a significantly expanded universe of offenders,” the LCC press release stated. “The League urges the court to grant the Governor’s request in order to avoid the serious risk it poses to all Californians.”This has left local front-line law enforcement agencies in several communities scrambling over how to handle the situation, something the LCC stressed in its press release.“If California must now release more inmates, as the court panel has directed, the state will be forced to consider which of these violent, serious, sex offender classes of inmates will be put back onto the streets,” stated the LCC. “The Governor and California’s law enforcement community find this option unthinkable and the League of California Cities adamantly agrees.”Since the release of the initial 40,000 prisoners over the 20-month period since AB 109 has been implemented, certain aspects of crime have spiked in communities affected by early releases. Communities like Ridgecrest have witnessed a spike in property crimes over the last year, and while down slightly, the risk still persists.According to Ridgecrest Police Department Capt. Paul Wheeler, the city has 30 people released under the Post-Release Community Supervision program, under the direction of the California Department of Corrections.“They are people that have been released per AB 109 and they are currently under the jurisdiction of local law enforcement,” Wheeler said by phone Tuesday. “They are the responsibility of local law enforcement agencies to keep track of now.”Wheeler said that since AB 109 kicked in back in 2012, the early release of low-risk offenders has increased RPD's workload.“AB 109 has just added to the police department's burden of responsibility,” Wheeler said.Wheeler added any chance to keep the additional 10,000 prisoners incarcerated earns RPD's support.“We're in favor of keeping people that have been rightfully sentenced under the law in prison,” Wheeler said. “Once they have been lawfully sentenced, they should serve their time.”

Editorial Note: A follow-up story with reaction from councilmembers will appear in Friday's edition.